The eleventh major release of the Android mobile operating system seems to be coming close to reality having scaled the fourth Google Developer preview on the May 6th, but, one feature that has caught the eye amongst others is a security change to shake up the way people install apps from third-party sources.
Yet another scary update!
It is worth noting that Android releases to the 10th edition (Android 10) of the Android operating system allowed users to install apps through ‘APK’ files for some time. That means anyone can download an APK from outside the Play Store and install it on their phone.
For example, if you download an APK with your web browser, it won’t let you install it without permission for your web browser to handle unknown apps.
On Android 10 and older, this process was quite simple. Users downloaded an app, a pop-up would say they need to grant permission. Tapping the ‘Settings’ button in the pop-up would send users to the app’s settings so they could enable the permission. Then, tapping or swiping to go back would generate a second pop-up asking to install the APK.
Everything seems to change in the Android 11 with details gotten from a Google Issue Tracker thread reveals that Android 11 will force-close apps after users grant permission to install unknown apps.
However, Android 11 completely will hope to disrupt that process.
Instead of allowing users back to the installation page for the app, it will force close that app once users grant it the permission. Then, you have to head back to the app and start the process over from the beginning.
Why is Google Doing this?
Much has been made of internet security, flaws in the Android OS compared to the iOS, and how best to guard user data and files against breaches.
Google seems to be placing privacy at the fore-front in it’s next Android release by introducing a Scoped Storage feature that provides each app an isolated section of storage and limited access to the Android filesystem, instead of granting full access like Android currently does.
Basically, what this means is a critical change that could prevent apps from snooping around your files. However, Scoped Storage also comes with some issues, such as reduced read and write speeds which could makes the process of installing APKs more worrisome altogether.
Essentially, the issue stems from Android 11’s new ‘Scoped Storage’ file management system though the search giant provided more detail on what could be causing the problem on the tracker thread:
“The way the filesystem and storage mounts are setup in Android R has changed significantly. When an app starts without this permission, it gets a view of the filesystem that doesn’t allow writing to certain directories (eg Android/obb). Once the app has been granted this permission, that view is no longer accurate, and needs to be updated to a view that allows the app to write to certain directories. With the way the filesystem has been setup in R, changing that view on the fly is not possible. As mentioned in comment #16, we’re evaluating internally. I’m just providing additional details why this doesn’t work the way it did on Q.”
Android 11 might be near-ready to be pushed out to the public but issues like this isin’t ideal and would need a fix the ensure smooth transition for the great Android Community.
PS: Android 11 is due for release to the public later this year but you might want to try out this guide to install the Developer preview.
Source: Google Issue Tracker via: MobileSyrup
Originally Posted On NaijaTechGuy
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